


Language Barrier

by aba_daba_do



Category: The Owl House
Genre: Found Family, Gen, after Adventures in the Elements, digs towards the american education system
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28034046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aba_daba_do/pseuds/aba_daba_do
Summary: Luz needs to learn basic runes if she wants to avoid the baby class
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	Language Barrier

“But Eda!” Luz’s whine trailed through the bowels of the house. Her two gangly arms wrapped around Eda’s waist, the full weight of her body dragging across the floor. Her fingers sunk into the deep red fabric of the witch’s dress. Every time Eda tried to take a step the teenager would hang off of her like an anchor. “Eda, I need you to help me!” 

Eda grunted with exertion, trying to make her way through the house despite Luz’s protests. She took one large step, raising her knee nearly to her chest and then placing a foot flat on the ground. “Haven’t I already helped you? You said you need 2 spells to get into advanced classes at Hexside and I got you 2 spells.” Using the inner part of her fingers, she swatted at Luz in an attempt to make her let go. 

King walked into the parlor room, hanging in the open door frame. His bright yellow eyes beamed as he slapped 2 hands to his skull covering. “Is Eda carrying us?” He scampered over, using his claws to scale up Luz’s purple shirt, over her head of thick dark hair, and on to Eda’s shoulder. Seating himself comfortably with his back forward he pointed towards the kitchen. “Onwards slave!” 

“Alright that’s enough!” Eda shouted, picking King up by the scruff of his neck and breaking Luz’s grip, causing her to fall face first onto the floor with a loud thunk. “I’m not carrying anyone!” 

King squirmed, making Eda drop him to the ground. “No fair! You were carrying Luz!” 

“She wasn’t carrying me,” Luz said. She inched her way across the floor and wrapped her arms around Eda’s ankles. The whine she released was much louder and more prominent than the last. “I was begging her!” Eda proceeded to shake Luz off of her boots and scramble away from her. 

“Why don’t you grovel like that for me,” King replied, crossing his arms in a huff.

With a frown plastered to her face, Luz gave up on needlessly pleading with and annoying Eda. She pushed herself off the floor and brushed off her clothes. “Because I’m just a few days away from my entrance exam for Hexside and I still don’t know basic runes. If she doesn’t help me learn them soon, I still won’t get into advanced classes.” 

“Ha,” King mocked, tilting his head back to laugh. “Even babies know basic runes.” 

Luz shrugged helplessly. “I can’t help it! I’m not from the Boiling Isles. I’ve never seen them before and I need someone to teach me.” 

“And I can’t help you,” Eda countered, placing a hand on her hip. “I can teach you spells but I can’t teach you runes. Do I look like a kindergarten teacher to you?”   
“Then find me someone who can!” Luz stared up at Eda with big, dark, and sad eyes. Her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly. “Please?” 

“Oh fine.” Pressing her fingers up to her forehead, as if to relieve a forming headache, Eda groaned. “I think my old teacher lives somewhere nearby. I’ll see if he’s willing to help you learn. I mean, he hated me, but people change sometimes.” 

Luz squealed with joy and embraced Eda in a hug, who held her arms high in the air with shock. “Thank you!” 

“Again with the arm loop thing. Do you do it when you’re upset or when you’re happy? I don’t get it,” Eda complained. “You know you’re gonna have to let go of me if you want me to make this call.”

\------   
  
King grumbled as he marched beside Luz across the dirt. He kicked at a tuft of grass in disdain. “I can’t believe Eda is making me go with you to your baby lesson.” Luz didn’t seem to pay him much mind, walking towards the teacher’s house with stars in her eyes and a notebook tucked tightly under her arm. Leaping off the ground, King dove into the messenger bag that Luz carried across her shoulder. It swayed back and forth with each of her steps. He nuzzled into the fabric, leaning back comfortably. “I say we ditch and go do something fun.” 

“I can’t ditch,” Luz replied sternly. “I only have this one chance to get into magic school and I’m not wasting it. Once I got back to the human realm, there won’t be any magic. So I have to try my best.” 

She slowed to a stop once they reached a grand house built from cool gray stones. Its tall towers and cone shaped thatched-roofs scraped against the piercing blue sky. It looked like a tiny castle from a fairy-tale, its garden lined with a rainbow of sweet smelling flowers and a grand wooden door at the front. Luz squealed, causing King to cover his ears. “Oh my gosh. This is just like in The Good Witch Azura when she has to go find a master to teach her an ancient dragon language. They develop a lifelong bond between teacher and student.” 

King rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Not everything has to be like a story, Luz. Wake me up when this is over, I’m taking a nap.” Reaching over, he grabbed the flap to her messenger bag and pulled it over. 

Exhaling, Luz marched up to the front door, grabbing the golden knocker and banging it twice against the wooden door. It creaked open, an elderly man with a sliver-struck beard emerged from the otherside. He had a kindly wrinkled face, pointy ears, and a third blue eye in the center of his forehead. He wore the robes and hat of a scholar, the sleeves nearly covering his hands. A fond smile spread across his face, “Ahhh you must be my new student.” His three eyes looked down at Luz and his smile suddenly broke. “Oh my. You’re a human.” 

“Yessiree,” Luz said. 

The teacher cleared his throat. “Edalyn didn’t mention you were a human when we spoke. Just that you had never learned runes.” 

“She didn’t?” Luz said with a playsful scoff. “That silly Eda. Anyway, thank you so much for teaching me basic runes. I promise you won’t be disappointed.” 

“Well if anyone can teach someone like you, it would be me.” 

“Someone like me?” Luz asked, hesitation rising in her voice.

“Oh you know, someone not from the Boiling Isles. Come now.” The teacher raised a crooked finger beckoning Luz to follow him into the house. Luz trotted behind marvelling at the stone interior and towering shelves of books and scrolls. The house smelled a little dusty, but also like worn paper and freshly baked bread. 

“You have a lovely home...” Luz remarked before pausing. “Oh I never asked what your name is.” 

“You may call me Iarod,” he replied with a slight exasperation in his voice. 

He led Luz up to a small sectioned off part of the home where black board was plastered to one of the walls and a few classroom desks were laid out in nice little rows. Luz seated herself in the first row directly in front of the blackboard, setting her notebook on the desk and dropping her messenger bag to the floor. From inside her bag, King yelped and emerged, rubbing at the side of his head. “I told you I was napping in there!” 

Luz leaned over and whispered to King, a half-apologetic smile on her face. “Sorry. I’m just so excited to be learning runes!” 

“Student!” Iarod snapped, causing Luz to abruptly sit upright in her desk and for King to fearfully squirm back into the bag. He loomed over Luz, his dark robes and bun shaped hat obscuring most of the light from the candles in the room. “Already distracted, I see?” 

Scrambling, Luz grabbed her pen and opened up to a fresh page in her notebook. “No, no. I’m focused. Totally focused. Laser focused!” Iarod made a gruff, displeased sound and marched back up to the blackboard. 

King poked his head out of the bag and whispered up to Luz, “Is it just me or is that guy a piece of work?” 

Luz placed a finger to her lips signalling King to go silent. 

Taking his place in front of the board, Iarod raised a finger in the air and traced a glowing red circle into the air. A thin white stick of chalk flew into the air and began to print runes one by one onto the board. Luz scribbled alongside the chalk, writing down each rune as it appeared. “Tell me, human, what do you know about runes?” Iarod said stiffly. The wrinkles in his face were harsh, making him seem different from the kindly man with rosy cheeks who opened the door. Luz thought he seemed so happy when they first met. But now he just looked cranky. 

“Uhhh nothing.” She shrugged, too unsure of what to say. “I know that I see them on signs and in books and stuff. But I don’t know anything about them.” 

“Runes are the traditional language of witches. We use them to decipher old texts and spells. They are of the utmost importance if you want to learn the ways of magic.” Luz proceeded to write that down in her notebook. He then pointed up at the black board towards the first rune. “Do you know which one this is?” 

Luz pursed her lips together and stared at it. “It kinda looks like the letter A?” 

“Wrong!” Iarod shouted, causing Luz to nearly jump back in her seat. “That is Ahn.” He pointed up towards another rune, this one pointed like a triangle with an extra ligament at the bottom. “And what of this rune?” 

“I-I’m sorry. But I don’t know. I don’t know anything about runes.” Her feet fidgeted on the floor, unable to stay firmly planted. She rubbed the edge of her sneaker against her ankles until they felt raw. Luz liked to think she was a good student. She was curious, eager to learn, and playful in her knowledge. But maybe she wasn’t as good of a student as the thought. That was what got her into this whole mess after all. She thought she gave a great book review for her class and instead she got sent to the principal’s office and then summer camp. Maybe she wasn’t as good of a student as she thought if she couldn’t figure out some simple runes.

Maybe she wasn’t cut out for Hexside.

Iarod groaned and rubbed his index fingers around his third eye. “What did they even teach you in this human realm?” 

“Uhh well I learned how to do mental math and play the recorder. Oh! I can write in cursive except nobody really uses cursive anymore.” She counted each of her skills on her fingers. “We also did lots of science experiments and art class was fun!” 

Passively waving a hand at her, Iarod turned his back to Luz, completely disinterested. “It figures. The human realm has always been full of useless trash. It makes sense the same could be said for its education system.” 

His statement stung, a painful heat starting in Luz’s chest and trailing down into her arms. “But the human world is great! We have TVs, socks with toes in them, and tacos that are shaped like pizzas! Sure, there’s no magic. But it’s not trash!” 

Iarod stepped forward; and though the action was simple it made Luz feel very afraid. “Your dimension is worthless, as are humans. You expect me to teach you runes when you don’t understand the ways of the Boiling Isles? You don’t even have a magic bile sack. Teaching you would be pointless! You’ll never be a witch like us. You’re just a pathetic, unrefined, round-eared human.” 

Luz wanted to defend herself. But the words got blocked in her throat by a wall of tears. Her eyes watered and her bottom lip quivered. Not everyone in the Boiling Isles was nice to her. They liked to make fun of her or threaten to eat her just because she was human. She tried not to take it personally. People could be nice once you got to know them. She even managed to turn things around with Amity! But no one had spoken to her the way Iarod had. Not one ever called her worthless. 

“I-I-” the words barely staggered from her. 

“Hey!” King leapt from the bag and onto Luz’s desk. He pointed an angry, clawed finger at Iarod. “No one gets to talk to my friend that way except for me.” Releasing a tiny grunt of effort, he jumped onto Iarod and scaled up his arm towards his shoulder. Then King grabbed onto his hat and pulled it over his eyes. Iarod stumbled backwards, knocking his head against the blackboard. King scampered away from him and tugged his claws against Luz’s pants. “Come on, you don’t need this guy. He’s just a pathetic old man. Let’s go home.” 

She sniffled, still trying to fight off the onslaught of tears. “Okay.” 

\-----

Luz didn’t even think to fully close the door behind her. Hooty chirped loudly, unaware of the frown still plastered to Luz’s face. “Hi, Luz! How was your lesson. I’ve always wanted to go to school. But I can’t because I’m just head. Sometimes I think about–” 

“Enough!” King demanded, closing the door the rest of the way and cutting Hooty off. 

Eda looked up from the couch where she lounged with one leg up and the other planted firmly on the floor. She was drinking from her ‘30 and Flirty’ mug and reading a book. “Hey kid,” she said, putting the mug down. “How’d it go. I wasn’t expecting you back for another hour.” 

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Luz muttered. She walked towards the stairs, completely bypassing Eda. Her dark eyes remained trained on the floor, her shoes scuffing with each step. “I just wanna go lie in the dark and think about how I’m going to be in the baby class.” 

Eda sat upright, moving her other leg to position both of her feet on the floor. “Yeesh, what happened to her?” She jabbed a thumb towards the stairs, indicating Luz. 

King jumped up onto the coffee table to look Eda in the eye. “This teacher guy you sent Luz to is a real jerk. He talked down at her just for being a human. He called her worthless and pathetic.” He looked over his shoulder towards the stairs, “I think he really hurt her feelings. And you know Luz, nothing ever makes her sad!” 

Eda smacked a hand into her fist, an angry scowl sweeping across her mouth. “I always knew that guy was a real… well I’m not going to use that word in front of you. I can’t believe he would say that stuff to Luz. She’s probably the most eager student he’d ever have!” Then Eda sighed. Winding her fingers through her pale hair, Eda hunched over realizing what she had done. “But I guess I was unwilling to teach her too. Guess I gotta go make it up to her huh?” 

Standing up, she made her way up towards Luz’s room (formerly a storage closet) with King following in pursuit. She carefully raised a hand, rapping twice against the door. “Hey, kid?” There was no answer. Slowly opening the door with a long creak, she poked her head in. “Luz?” The teenager was lying on the firm mat she used as a bed, her head of dark curly hair tucked into her pillow. 

“Go away,” she moaned, clearly crying. 

Eda wasn’t good with emotions, not sad ones anyway. She usually tended to avoid these situations or meet them with some kind of careless joke. But she rarely saw Luz so shaken up. Making her way into Luz’s room, she firmly seated herself against the hardfloor by the bed roll while King dropped down by Luz’s side and gave her a pat on the shoulder. 

Chewing on her bottom lip, Eda thought of something to say. “I never liked Iarod. I used to put prickle plant thorns on his chair every morning just to make him jump up and scream.” Luz didn’t reply or even make a sound. Eda sighed and tried again. Extending a finger, she traced a yellow circle into the air, levitating the contents out of Luz’s bag and into her hands. She flipped through the notebook, carefully reading through Luz’s notes. “You know, I was never very good with runes as a kid. Greatest witch in the Boiling Isles and I still find it hard sometimes. But I developed a few tricks to help me remember them.” 

Luz turned her face, curiosity peaking in her eyes. 

Eda pointed towards the runes written in the notebook. “I associate the shape of the rune with the sound it makes. She laid a finger underneath the triangular one with the little ligament on the bottom. “This one is Rowe it makes a hard ‘r’ sound and it’s shaped a little bit like a rock. See?” 

“Oh yeah.” Luz slowly pushed herself up from her bed roll and rubbed the back of her arm against her eyes. “I see it?” 

Pointing towards another one, Eda continued. “And Oomla looks like a circle and it makes an ‘oh’ sound.” 

“Just like how Ahn looks like the letter A? It makes an ‘ah’ sound?” asked Luz.   
“Exactly! You’re a natural.” Taking a hand, Eda rubbed affectionately against Luz’s hair. “You’ll learn these runes in no time.” 

Luz smiled, her eyes still a little red and her cheeks flushing pink. “Only because I have a really good teacher.” 


End file.
